Track 14 from Under Cover (2005)

Black Sabbath had been on my to-do list for a deep cuts playlist for many years, so I was spurred to finally post that yesterday before I move into Ozzy's solo career. Sabbath are already in the Hall of Fame, as they well deserve to be. And between that and the most famous sideman from Ozzy's solo career, Randy Rhoads, receiving a Musical Excellence Award a few years ago, I don't feel very urgently that Ozzy needs to be inducted a second time. Still, even outside Sabbath he's had a pretty great career -- his first 7 studio albums are all multiplatinum, and Ozzfest kind of solidified Ozzy's role as the living embodiment of heavy metal. 

Still, I think those 2 albums with Rhoads (plus the live album Tribute, which collected recordings from Rhoads-era tours a few years after his death) cast a long shadow over the rest of Ozzy's solo career, there's not a lot of essential music after that. Rhoads gave him the perfect pyrotechnic post-Van Halen sound to pivot to something different from Sabbath but still heavy. Zakk Wylde's work with Ozzy kicks a lot of ass, though, he's earned a hallowed spot in the pantheon alongside Iommi and Rhoads. And Ozzy has continued to work some of the best guitarists in the world, include Pearl Jam's Mike McCready on "Immortal" on his most recent album. 

Blizzard Of Ozz's "Suicide Solution" became famous when a teenager killed himself, allegedly after listening to the song, and his parents attempted to sue Ozzy Osbourne. The song is actually a pretty great dark track about Ozzy's self-destructive alcoholism. "No Bone Movies" is about a different kid of addiction to skin flicks, and I find it considerably more funny.